Zoey's Story
by raven678
Summary: What would've happened if the king and queen decided to adopt a young girl so Anna could have a friend? What if that young girl was full of emotional scars that she couldn't get rid of? Meet Zoey as she battles through everything life throws her way, and watch how she will accidentally change Anna's and Elsa's relationship. Possibly changed to T later.
1. Chapter 1

"Hello Mama!" I screamed, when I saw her after her trip to the store.

"Hey Zoe," she responded, without any enthusiasm. I sat back in my chair and waited for her to keep talking, as she normally did.

Finally becoming impatient, I asked her how her trip to the store was. She nodded at me, and continued putting the groceries away. This was unusual for her. Normally she talked about anything and everything she could think of, but the last couple of weeks, she has become more reserved and quiet. My dad has recently become out of character, too. All my life, he would come home, pick me up, and spin me around, but he would barely look at me.

"How come you have been so quiet?" I asked. She glanced at me, then turned away, refusing to answer my question. As if answering my question will give me answers that I don't want to hear. I remained quiet, and hoped that she would come up with an answer.

I waited a couple of minutes, and finally worked up the courage to ask, "Why haven't you been answering any of my questions, you've been treating me differently the past couple of weeks. What's wrong?" I realized that I have become slightly hysterical, but I needed answers, and she still refused to look at me.

Suddenly, she left the room, and I watched her go, not knowing what else to say. When she came back, she started to mix the gross salad together. My dad ran in yelling that he finally got two tickets to America, and they were set to sail tomorrow. I felt my jaw drop. I might not have had any kind of math lesson yet, but I knew that there were three of us, but he said that there were two tickets.

"Mama? Papa?" I asked. "Aren't I going to be able to come to America with you?" They glanced at each other and wouldn't make eye contact with me.

"Of course not. We can barely afford to pay the two of us, and you are a growing kid. We can't afford to feed you. You are too much of a burden for us to take care of anymore. We don't want you." Mama said, and Papa seemed to be agreeing with her. I felt tears start running down my face, but I couldn't make them stop. "Why d-don't you love me anymore? What d-did I d-do wrong?" I scream. They turned around and ignore me. I jump from my chair and run into my room, as fast as my four-year-old legs will carry me.

I collapse on my bed and start sobbing into my pillow. I knew my parents were going to be gone tomorrow, and that, as a good daughter, I should be spending every minute with them, even if they couldn't find it in their hearts to love me back, but I couldn't find the strength to get up. My heart felt as if it had been shattered into a million pieces. All that I could do was clutch my pillow and let my tears fall. Once they leave tomorrow, I won't have a family. I'm not sure I have a family now, considering they don't love me, and that is the one thing a family is supposed to do.

I wake up the next morning, telling myself that I must've dreamt what happened last night, and that my parents still loved me, but I knew I was giving myself false hope. I ran around the house looking for them, but I only found empty rooms that used to hold their stuff. As soon as understood that they were gone, I felt all the strength in my legs disappear. Scratch that, I had no energy left in my body at all. I fell on the ground, and stayed there. I knew that I needed to eat. I haven't eaten since lunch the day before, and, even though I could hear my stomach growling, all I could feel was numbness. I stayed on the floor for hours, waiting for a sound I know that I will never hear again. The sound of my parents around the house, doing the chores, or just laughing together. I couldn't stop wondering what I did to make them hate me.

Suddenly the door opened, and I tried to stand up, but still didn't have enough energy to do so. "Hello," My neighbor's beautiful voice rang throughout my house. "Zoe, I know that you are in here. I saw your parents leave this morning, but you weren't with them." I want to tell her to please leave me alone, but my voice isn't working at all. I can't say anything. The sound of her footsteps echo through this house, and I can hear them coming closer. Suddenly, Mrs. Daisy gasps from behind me. She picks me up and hugs me. I'm unable to do anything, except let new tears fall onto her back. "Where are your parents?" She asked. I try to talk again, but I still couldn't. Finally, I gave up and shook my head, trying to tell her what happened. She seemed to understand, and continued to hold me, and started to walk. .

She carried me outside, and despite the winter wonderland, I couldn't feel the cold on my skin. When we got into her house, I could see the fire, but the numbness has still prevented me from feeling anything. ' _No wonder my parents didn't love me_ ,' I think. ' _I am a freak_.'

She set me on her couch, and I tried to fall asleep. My stomach rumbles, even though I was unable to feel the pain. "I think you need some food," She said, unsure of what to do, but I shook my head in protest. Money is scarce, and people have to work really hard to earn anything. All the prices are high, because it is the winter, and food is extremely limited. I didn't want to get up, anyways. I didn't have any energy, and I think I am going to be sick if I try and eat anything.

"Tomorrow, we will take her to the orphanage," I heard her husband say. "There will be plenty of kids her age, and they will be able to take care of her properly." I don't know what to say, so I simply nod my head. I think that they realize that I don't want to eat, so Mrs. Daisy grabbed a blanket and gave it to me. I am too numb to say anything, or acknowledge what she is doing for me.

After they go to bed, I stared up at the ceiling for hours, thinking. How my parents left me, because they didn't love me, and I was going to have to live in an orphanage from now on. I decided that there was something wrong with me, that I was defective in some way. I wish they would have told me what was wrong with me, so I could've fixed it. Then they would've loved me again. I felt the tears rolling down my cheeks, and before I could stop myself, I started sobbing. I felt my body shaking, and I was using too much energy that I didn't have. I passed out after a short time, because my body couldn't take any more.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey readers, I mean to put an authors note at the beginning of the last chapter, but I made a mistake. Anyways, thanks for following and favoriting this story. I hope you like this next chapter! I'm going to try and update once a week. I have a lot of the story written out, but I'm having writers block. If you have any ideas, just message me or add it into your review. Enjoy reading!

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When I woke up, Mrs. Daisy was telling me that I needed to get dressed. She'd gone back to my old house and picked out some clothes for me to wear, and packed a suitcase for me. Then she took me to the orphanage. I still felt numb, whereas I was normally bouncing off the walls in excitement for the day. She tried to talk to me as we walked, and, although I tried to talk, my voice wouldn't work. So we walked in silence instead. When we reached the orphanage, she talked to an older woman, and left. Just like my parents. I knew I wasn't going to see her again.

The lady that she talked to introduced herself as Maggie, and led me into the bedroom. There I saw several children staring back at me. They were all older than me by at least two or three years. "Why don't you introduce yourself," Maggie asked. Knowing that my voice wouldn't start working, I shook my head, desperate to stop being the center of attention. She seemed to realize that I wasn't going to speak, so she led me to a bed, and told me that this is where I was going to be staying until I was adopted.

After she left me alone, I crawled in bed. It was slightly more comfortable than the couch that I'd stayed on last night. I didn't feel safe, but at least it was something. I was so focused in on my own thoughts, I didn't hear the sounds of footsteps coming over, or the laughter and jeers that followed. I still didn't notice anything until the oldest kid said, "Hey newbie." Snickers follow the strange comment.

I pointed at myself, to make sure that he was talking about me. "Yeah you," he spat. I wait for him to continue. He leaned in and whispered in my ear, "Make sure you know your place. I have seniority over you. Therefore I am better than you, and I am always right. Since you are so new, you have to do everyone else's chores, and if they want something that is yours, they can have it. This goes for everything, including your personal stuff and more importantly, food. And if you try and stop us, either by fighting us, or telling the orphanage lady, you will suffer the consequences. Understand, newbie?" I nodded my head in fear. I just wanted to make him go away and leave me alone. He started to turn, as if he was about to leave, but changed his mind. He turned to face me one more time, picked me up, and threw me on the ground. My butt landed first, and then my head hit the wall behind me. "That's for not answering me with your voice." He said and left with the other kids.

The first day I arrived, I didn't do any of the other children's chores. I believed I'd had a nightmare, because it was less scary than believing that this was my new life. He had come over and started screaming, saying that I was too stupid to do anything right, and that I was going to pay for being too lazy to do all the chores. I paid less than thirty seconds later. He grabbed my arm and threw me on the ground. All the kids crowded around me, and kicked me. I wanted to scream because it hurt so badly, but my voice prevented me from whimpering. One kid even slapped my face, but not hard enough to leave a mark. I didn't resist, just let them do what they wanted. I knew that they would've been meaner if I had tried to resist.

As months pass, I forced myself to get up early, every day, so I can start the list of chores. They are the always the same. I hated this life, but what made it even worse was that I had to do a good job at everything, before I went to bed. When the other children woke up, we all ate breakfast together. Maggie always ate before she came into work, so she never saw us at the cafeteria. I had to eat quickly, and usually they stole most of my food.

After breakfast, I had to clean all the dishes and put them away. Then I would try and finish my list of chores. Once the children are up, they are able to go out and play. I missed doing that, but I had to finish their chores. I worked the rest of the day. When the children come back inside, the oldest one glares at me, and then hits me. The other kids join in, too. He also yelled insults at me. He never went one day without telling me how ugly I was, that I worked too slowly, messed everything up, and no one would ever love me. I want to respond to him, and tell him that at least I know how to work, and do things for myself, but I couldn't say a word. I hadn't spoken since my parents left me, and talking back to the kids would cause more pain for me, anyways. Once he finishes, he and all the kids leave me on the ground, and I would finally be able to cry. Sometimes I would be able to get up, and crawl into bed, but my arms and legs were usually in too much pain, and I would lay there until the numbness went away.

Nights were no fun, either. I would fall asleep immediately, most days. My body was too exhausted to resist. When I fell asleep, my mind is plagued with nightmares. The most reoccurring one is that the kids had surrounded me, and are "putting me in my place," as they have called it. Then my parents come, and I want them to help me and tell the kids to leave me alone. My parents laughed at me, and tell me that I deserve this. They continue to tell me how horrible I am, and that I am better off dead than alive. I constantly woke up, shaking.

One day, I woke up shivering. I was completely wrapped up in my blankets, but I couldn't get warm. While everyone else was getting up, I tried to push myself into a sitting position, but I could only see black spots, until I fell back into my pillow. It didn't stop spinning, though. I don't know how much time passed between the kids leaving for breakfast before Maggie rushed in, picked me up, and took me somewhere. I passed out on the way there.

When I woke up, I was in a white room. I heard a lot of quiet voices in my head, even though there is no one around, and wondered what was wrong with me. One of the voices got louder when the doctor walked in. ' _Thank goodness she is alright. I was so scared she was going to die on my watch._ ' I backed up a little, because the doctor hadn't even opened his mouth. Then it stopped talking, as he asked, "Are you feeling any better?" I nodded my head. ' _I can't believe how long she slept. She got in here a week ago._ ' My eyes widen. If that voice told the truth, I missed a week of chores, because I was sick. I felt myself shaking, and the doctor tried to get me to focus. I couldn't, because my life for the past several months kept flashing in front of my face. He started saying my name, and I finally was able to snap back to reality. ' _Stupid kid_ ,' I thought. ' _No wonder the world hates you._ '

He stuck something in my mouth, and told me that my temperature was 100, but it had dropped four degrees since I had come. He told me that I needed to stay in here for a couple more days, before he could send me back. ' _I really should ask her how she got those bruises._ ' I heard that voice, which sounds exactly like the doctors voice, in my head. He bit his lip and then said. "I noticed that you had some bruises on your arms and legs. Mind telling me how you got that?" he asks. I nodded my head. Yes, I did mind. I couldn't talk, anyways, but I especially couldn't come up with a good excuse to write down, either. He sighed, then nodded, as he realized that I wasn't going to open up. ' _Someone's hurting her_.' I hear his thoughts, and accidently flinch. I hope he doesn't tell anyone about this. I'm already going to get hurt really badly when I go back to the orphanage, I don't need him to make it worse.

"One more thing," He paused at the door. "I know it was five days ago, but happy fifth birthday!" Then he walks out the door. His voice, which has been present in my head since he walked in, slowly disappeared until I couldn't hear it anymore. The other voices around me were still there, but they were too quiet, and I couldn't hear what they were saying.


	3. Chapter 3

Hey readers! I'm back! Thanks for reading and reviewing! I'm going to try and update once a week. My schedule just got really busy, so I will usually post on Saturdays and Sundays. Hope you enjoy this chapter!

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I was finally well enough to get released from the hospital three days later. I had been dreading this day since I woke up. Maggie came bright and early, just as she'd promised. The second she entered the room, I heard her voice, just like I'd been hearing the doctor's voice for the last couple of days. ' _I'm so glad to have Zoey back, I've been so worried about her. I hope she keeps getting along with the other children as well as she has been._ ' So Maggie was just oblivious to what had been happening. I'm grateful for her obliviousness, as I'm sure the children would still be mean to me, just when she wasn't looking. The second she had come close enough, she gave me a hug. "I've been so worried about you. I'm so glad you are feeling better." I flinch, then nod my head. I was happy that I was feeling well, I just didn't want to go back to the orphanage, yet. However, I realized I don't have a choice, and she picked me up and started to carry me back.

' _I need to make sure that the orphanage is ready by tomorrow. The queen and king are coming down to adopt one kid. I hope they choose Zoey.'_ I heard her thoughts (that's what I think they are). I can't believe she wanted me to be chosen by the king and queen! That's a sweet thought, even though I know it'll never happen.

We arrived at the orphanage, and I heard all the children's voices in my head. However, I couldn't understand what they were thinking, because there were too many voices. "Ok children," Maggie says. "Tomorrow, we have two special people coming, and we need to make sure that the orphanage looks completely clean. That means that everyone has to do their fair share of work. I will be helping, too." She started to list off assignments to the children. I wait for my name to be called, but she never did. I pointed to myself, and tried to let her know that I didn't get an assignment. She saw me, and told me that she needed to talk to me in her office, after she helped everyone get started on their chores.

At those words, my heart doubles its normal rate, and I could barely make it to her office before I start hyperventilating. ' _She is going to kick me out on the streets.'_ I can't help but think, even though I heard her think that she wanted me to get adopted earlier. I decided that I had imagined it. Thoughts reminding me that I was a burden started to pop into my head, and I couldn't get them out. I couldn't breathe properly, and it got worse as more degrading thoughts came into my head. Soon black spots came into my vision, and became bigger and bigger until my entire vision had gone black. I'm scared I'm going to pass out, and that fear made me breathe even harder, but I still couldn't catch my breath.

"ZOEY," Maggie screamed, right as the world disappeared completely. As I came to, I realized I was on Maggie's lap, and she was stroking my hair, which made me feel calm. Then I remembered why I was there. My eyes popped open, and I scrambled away, then landed on my back, and kept scooting away until I was against a wall. "What's wrong, Zoey?" Maggie asks. I tried to hear what she was thinking, but there are so many thoughts around me, mainly the other orphans, I couldn't understand her. I shake my head, because I don't want to tell her. At least now, I can pretend that she won't kick me out. I don't want to give her the ability to confirm it for me.

She had been patiently waiting for a response, but as time slowly passed, she realized that she wasn't going to get one. "Ok, if you aren't going to answer my question, I want you to know why I called you into my office. The doctor told me you have bruises on your arms and legs. Is this true?" She asked. I nodded my head. "Can you write down what happened on this piece of paper?" I nodded my head, again. She gave me a pen, and I drew a picture of myself tripping over something. I hoped she would believe it and leave me alone. I knew that she didn't believe me, the second she picks it up. "Child, I know people tend to get bruised from tripping over things, but you aren't that clumsy, and the doctor wouldn't have been so concerned about one or two bruises." She came over, gently held my hand, and started pushing my long sleeve shirt up. I tried to pull my arm away, before she could see them.

Unfortunately, I couldn't get away, and she saw my bruised skin. I heard her gasp and look up. She was so surprised, she released hold of my arm, and I could finally get my arm away, and back away from her, in shame. "Oh honey, what happened?" I knew I had two choices. Lie about everything, and maybe the kids will be the same, or tell her the truth, and then have the others get in trouble, and take their anger out on me. I shook my head, because I didn't know what else to do. I'm sure she knew what was happening, though. "Is someone hurting you?" I accidently flinch, and she notices. ' _Who is doing this? No way is it the orphans. They are way too sweet and innocent_.' Were the only thoughts I understood. However, she didn't say anything. She gave me a lollipop, and told me that I could stay in her office until I felt calm enough to work.

As soon as I finished the lollipop, she told me that I needed to sweep the floor where the beds were. I went out to start sweeping, and tried to ignore the glares around me. "First, you fake illness, so Maggie has to take you to the doctor, and "can't" work for ten whole days. Then, you get out of work so you can go talk to her. I think you need another lesson." The leader cackled. I involuntarily flinched, and he seemed to enjoy my fear. Then, he glanced over at Maggie's office, and hissed, "Your next 'lesson' will be given later tonight." I shuddered in dread, but kept sweeping. We spent the rest of the day and made sure the orphanage looked perfect for the king and queen.

Later that night, after everyone got ready for bed, the group of children came over. Apparently, they found a new "toy" to hurt me with, which was a pair of scissors. The biggest one shoved me over, and a bunch of them pinned me down. The boy who held it started to trace it along my arms, neck, and face, and constantly put more pressure on it. I held my breath, afraid that if I moved, it would cut me. I felt a scratch forming on my right arm, and getting deeper and deeper. I knew that they were going to start cutting into skin. "Put the scissors down, and step away from her." I heard Maggie say. The kids who had pinned me down got up and walked away from me. The kid who held the scissors grabbed them and plunged them into my left leg and then walked away. I think Maggie screamed at him, but I wasn't paying enough attention to hear what she told them. Everything around me was coming in and out of focus, and I could feel the blood seeping out of my leg. I felt someone pick me up, but then everything became too unfocused. I was still conscious, because my leg burned, though. I finally managed to pass out, which made the pain stop, temporarily.

That night, I had the worst nightmare of my life. All the kids had surrounded me, but they all had scissors, instead of only one person having them. They traced the scissors along my skin, and put additional pressure. Soon, they started drawing blood, and it hurt so much. Then they all said, "You deserve this. You deserve to die," all at once.

When I woke up, I was in bed at the orphanage, with giant gauze wrapped around my throbbing leg. I forgot about the nightmare, and wondered why I had tears in my eyes. I kind of remembered what happened the night before. I knew the kids pinned me down, and then someone stabbed me with a pair of scissors. ' _Oh no!'_ I thought. _'I gotta finish today's chores, otherwise the 'punishment' will be much worse tonight.'_ I started to scramble out of bed, and ignored the pain in my leg. Suddenly, someone grabbed both of my hands, which made me panic even more. ' _They're going to hurt me again!'_ Suddenly I heard Maggie's voice tell me that nothing bad would ever happen again, while I was at the orphanage. "The king and queen are on their way." She whispered. "I really hope that you can get adopted. They will be here in five to ten minutes." I nodded my head. I didn't think that they would adopt me. I couldn't talk, and now I have an injured leg. I had nightmares every night, and I was scared of everything. Why would anyone want me over every single child in this orphanage?

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Sorry this scene was so brutal. This is going to be the worst scene. Next chapter, there will be more characters, so stay tuned! And review please!


	4. Chapter 4

Hey readers, thanks for reviewing and following this story. I hope you enjoy this chapter!

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Maggie helped me get dressed into a pretty dress that covered the gauze partly, but it was still fairly noticeable. There was a knock on the door, and Maggie went to answer it. Even though I was expecting them, it was weird to see the king and queen in the orphanage. A pretty girl with orange hair, who looked to be about fourteen came in. Remembering my manners, I kneeled as best as I could, and hoped they didn't see me. I tried to listen to their thoughts, so I could know what they were thinking, but with all the children, Maggie, and the three of them, it was hard to listen to one voice at a time.

"This girl is really pretty." I heard the fourteen-year old say. "I think she wants to stay with us."

Too scared to make eye contact with people of such power, I stared at the ground until I heard someone say, "Hey, it'll be ok." I slowly looked up, and saw the king, queen, and princess all looking at me. "We are looking for a young person to stay at the castle with us, nothing to be worried about. What's your name, little one?"

Maggie suddenly rushed over. "Her name is Zoe, but she hasn't uttered a word since she came here. She had a traumatic incident at home, and now she is too scared to speak."

"Really," The king said. I flinched, expecting him to smack me for being so stupid and cowardly. He seemed interested by my reaction. "Why did you flinch, Zoe?" I shook my head, not wanting him to know. "Well, it seems that you need to find a happy home, where you feel loved and comfortable enough to talk. How would you like to come live with us for a little while and possibly get adopted?" I looked up, my tears streamed down my face, and nodded my head. I didn't think anyone would ever want to consider adopting me, let alone ask me for my opinion about it.

The three of them went to talk to Maggie about the paperwork, and I was able to pack my bags. Unfortunately, that left me alone with all of the children, who had been harassing me the whole time I was there. They didn't come near me, probably because of the king and queen's presence, but instead yelled insults from where they were. "You're useless." "The only reason the king and queen want you is because they pity you." "You'll be back soon. The king and queen are going to be so excited to get rid of you." "You are a monster." They all hurt, but the one that hurt the most was, "If your parents didn't want you, there's something wrong with you. Don't get your hopes up with the king and queen. It won't last long." They continued their barrage of insults, until the adults came back. By that time, I was packed.

"Ready to go?" The queen asked, and I nodded my head in response, and tried to keep the tears back. I didn't need the royal family to think I was a baby just because a few people said several bad things about me, especially since what they were saying was true. "You are going to have so much fun! You will have two sisters: Anna, who you just met, and Elsa, who is in the castle. You aren't going to see much of her. She is dealing with something, and as soon as it is fixed, she will be able to meet you. _'If it is ever going to be fixed.'_ I heard her think.

"We are going to be able to share a room together, and talk about whatever you want! It's going to be so much fun!" I tried to talk, or make a noise of agreement, but my voice still wasn't working, so I settled on nodding my head, but I desperately needed to talk. I was scared that if I didn't start talking, they were going to send me back.

We started walking, and I forced myself to ignore the burning sensation in my right leg the whole way there, but we finally arrived at the castle. The princess showed me which room was ours, and then left me alone to unpack. The room, and everything inside of it, was immense. At least three foster children could sleep comfortably together in one bed. I wandered around the room, and tried to understand how I was so lucky. Me! The girl whose parents abandoned. The same girl who was hurt by the other orphans for nearly a year, just because I was the new kid. _'You'd better not screw this one up.'_ I thought. _'Find some way to be worthwhile, even if you are just faking it. Help out as much as possible. Don't give them any reason to send you back.'_

I heard a knock at the door. "Um, hi! It's Anna. I was wondering if you wanted me to help you with anything." I went over, opened the door, and gestured for her to come in. _'I hope she starts talking soon. I want to be able to have a normal conversation with someone, for a change.'_ The bitter look on her face went away quickly. "Do you want to go climb trees? Dinners not for a couple of hours." I nodded my head and we went outside.

She took me to a large tree with many large branches sticking out, easily able to support both of us. She showed me how to climb it, and we got a little ways up before she decided that was high enough up for us. Despite the burning in my leg from where it was stabbed, I was able to climb the tree, with only a little bit of difficulty. "I love the view from this tree!" She exclaimed. "When you get a little bit older, we can go higher." She watched the sun begin to set, and I followed her example. It was a beautiful view. The water shined with the red, orange, and pink caused by the sunset.

"Are you ready to come down?" She asked me, a little while later. I looked at the ground, which seemed far away, clung to the tree, and shook my head. "Hey, I can help you get down. You don't have to be afraid. Here, why don't you let me show you how to get down, and then you can try it." I nodded my head, and showed her that I was willing to try. "Ok, here goes." She showed me the best branches to use, and how to hold on to branches with my hand, to keep my balance. I thought, _'I can do this.'_ I started out doing pretty well; the branches were close enough I could easily hold onto one above me and find one below me with my foot. "Almost there!" I could hear Anna calling. "Just a couple more branches."

I was able to safely come down from the tree, until I landed on my feet, and my right leg wouldn't support my weight, anymore. "Good job," Anna said, but looked at me questioningly as I continued to sit on the ground. "I knew you could do it!" She looked so happy, I wanted to give her a hug, but my right leg forced me to stay on the ground. "I'm so proud of you, Zoey," She told me, before helping me up, and giving me a hug. I felt so happy. I didn't know anyone could be proud of me, ever again. After Anna broke the hug, she remembered that we had to go to dinner, and was nice enough to carry me to the castle.

We had steak, mashed potatoes, and corn for dinner. It was so good, and no one tried to take any of my food. I ate all of it, and had seconds on the potatoes and corn. The king and queen kept staring at me, but I couldn't figure out why. Sometimes Anna would glance over at me, and then back at her parents. Princess Elsa never came down to eat. I guess that the problem she has makes her too busy to eat with us. While there were too many thoughts between the king, the queen and the princess to be able to understand most of what they were trying to say, I was able to focus on the king long enough to hear: _'Wow, I have never seen anyone eat so fast or so sloppily. I'm going to talk to the orphanage about making sure the kids are getting enough food. I hope Elsa learns how to conceal her problem. I miss having her at the table. It's been nine years already. How much longer does she need?'_ I couldn't help but wonder what he meant, and what Princess Elsa's problem was.

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Thanks for reading this! I hope you like Zoey's interaction with Anna, and the king and queen. I'm hoping to update in a week, but we have been having internet issues, so it might be longer. Also, sorry for not updating yesterday. We were having internet issues, and it finally just started working a little bit!


	5. Chapter 5

I am so sorry it has been this long since I last updated. Between school giving me a ton of work, and having this awful writer's block, I haven't had any time or ideas to help continue the story. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Ideas are always appreciated! :)

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After dinner, I limped back to Anna's and my room and got ready for bed. I hadn't been getting enough sleep recently, and I was especially exhausted from the day's events. I collapsed into bed and fell asleep immediately. Unfortunately, I was unable to go one single night without having nightmares. _'Hello, stupid.' The meanest kid from the orphanage said to me. I looked around, and realized that, yes, I was back at the orphanage. 'I heard that the king and queen didn't want you anymore, so guess where you are again.' His laughter struck fear in my heart. I looked around at all the other kids, and they all seemed more irritated than usually. 'Luckily for us, Maggie had to take a trip to the store, so it looks like we can do whatever we want, and no one will know the difference. Especially since it's you.' He started advancing towards me, and so did all the kids behind him. I backed up, right into the wall behind me, and knew that I didn't have any way to escape. 'Hey, leave her alone. It's my turn!' I heard a new voice say. I looked up and there was Princess Anna. Then she turned to me, 'Look, my parents really liked having you around. I was the one who wanted to send you back. There are so many things wrong with you. First off, you are ugly, and I couldn't stand to look you anymore. Secondly, you won't talk, and you are afraid of the stupidest things. Like how you wouldn't come down from the tree at first. Thirdly, I was sick and tired of being forced to be around you all the time. You are so clingy and desperate. It's obnoxious, and it needs to stop.' I stared at her in shock, before sinking to the floor, curling up in a ball, and crying. "Oh, yeah, and there is also the fact that you are too cowar-.'_

"Are you ok?" I heard someone ask, as I started to wake up. I looked up and realized that Anna was there. I remembered what I had just witnessed, looked up at Anna, and scooted backwards onto the floor, terrified. "Hey, what's wrong? I thought you were doing okay, earlier." I only curled into a ball and refused to look at her. "Did you have a nightmare?" I nodded. "Do you want you to tell me what it was about?" I shook my head. No way. Not after all of the things she said to me. I realized that I was the one being paranoid and the Anna in my dream wasn't real.

Finally being able to force myself to talk, I whisper, "I-is i-it tr-true?"

"Is what true? Hey, you talked! Good job!" She responded. I realized that I was too scared to talk, so I grabbed a piece of paper, and wrote something down for her to read.

"Do you hate me?" She read, then looked at me with a shocked expression. "WHAT! YOU ARE SO AWESOME! HOW COULD ANYONE HATE YOU?" She suddenly became really angry, and I cowered away from her, worried that she was going to hurt me. "Who told you that they hated you? I know that this is something that someone told you before you came here, so who?" I wrote something else on the piece of paper. "No one. I was just scared. Sorry." She read. "Zoey, I know that you are way too young to be having any of these ideas. You are five, for goodness sakes. Someone else either said this to you, or behaved this way to you." She gasped suddenly. "Was it your parents?" I flinched, briefly remembering their harsh words, but tried to convince her otherwise, by shaking my head. "I knew it." She muttered. "Tomorrow, we are going to talk to my parents, to see if we can do anything to help you." I shook my head, and wrote. 'I don't want to go back.' "Don't worry, I'm sure we can get you the right amount of help. Plus, being there couldn't have been healthy for you. You have already said something, and Maggie said that you hadn't spoken once while you were there. Wait a second. Was someone mean to you, there too?" I flinched as I remembered some of what they told me. _'I wonder why people are so mean to her. She's only five years old, so there's no way she tried to be mean to them. Plus, she would've been mean to me, too, and she was the exact opposite. She is almost to the point where she is afraid of her own shadow. That's it, I'm definitely going to talk to my parents. She needs some help, and I don't think I am good enough for her.'_

"Ok, well you should go back to sleep. You look like you haven't had enough in a long time." She suddenly picked me up, and set me in bed. "Good night. Don't let any mean nightmares scare you, okay. If they do, you can wake me up, or just sleep with me." I nodded my head, as she walked back to her bed. "Sleep tight." She whispered, right before I heard her breathing even out. No other nightmare bothered me the rest of the night.

The next morning, Anna woke me up and marched me, slowly, down to her parent's room. My ankle was hurting the whole time. After being let in, she started to explain everything. "…and I'm really concerned for her. She's only five, and she's already wondering whether or not everyone hates her." I hid in the safest place I could find, behind Anna's legs, and stared at the ground.

The king came over and forced me to look up at him. "Is this true?" he asked. I nodded my head, and continued to stare at the ground. He sighed. "Could you leave the room? We have some important business to discuss." I forced my legs to walk out the door, despite the pain of my ankle, and my fear of what they were planning on discussing. I knew what they were going to talk about, and I definitely don't want to be around them. _'The kids were right.'_ I think bitterly. _'Not even one day has passed, and they are already discussing whether or not they want to keep me.'_ Rather than subjecting myself to listen to any of their voices or thoughts, I limped to my room, crawled on the bed, and started to cry. Normally I wouldn't cry, because I had to remain strong, but there wasn't anyone around to see. I sobbed until my eyes are red, and I can't cry anymore, because the tears won't come.

"Hello, anyone there." I heard Princess Anna say. I don't answer. Mostly because I can't talk, but I wouldn't have talked anyway, even if I could. I really don't want her to see me, so, as I hear the door open, I clambered underneath the bed, and hoped she wouldn't look for me there. "Zoey, where are you. My- I mean our parents want to talk to you. I know you are in here, please just come out. We want to help you, not send you away." _'At least, I hope.'_ I heard her thoughts betray what she was saying. Unfortunately, I had already believed what she had said, and had started crawling out, enough so she could see me. "Why were you under the bed? Oh well, it doesn't matter, come on. This is serious."

I let her drag me to where the king and queen were at, feeling completely miserable. "Ok, we understand that you have had a hard past, and that is absolutely unforgivable that that was allowed to happen and be continued for as long as it was. However, we don't want to send you back, yet, as Anna told us you were concerned about that." I looked up at him, and felt the threat sink in. "There are a couple of things that we can do to make this pain you are feeling slowly hurt less and less." He handed me a piece of paper. "I want you to fill this out. We used one for Elsa, and it helped her a lot. Luckily, we had an extra copy on hand just in case. Please fill it out, and bring it back. Anna can help you if you need it." I nodded my head, and Anna led me to our room.

"Do you want help?" I nodded my head, and we headed over to her desk to start filling it out.

Question 1: How old are you? Five.

Question 2: How many biological siblings do you have? Zero.

Question 3: Do you have parents? Technically, no.

Question 4: If you answered no to the previous question, what happened to them? They sailed to America, and left me behind.

Question 5: How many friends do you have? Zero.

Question 6: Have you ever been hurt by anyone on purpose? Yes.

Question 7: Have you ever had a boy/girl friend? No.

Question 8: Have you ever had any mean thoughts about yourself? Yes. All the time.

Question 9: Have you ever thought about killing yourself: No.

Question 10: Have you ever attempted suicide? No.

After asking Anna the definition of certain words by pointing to them, we walked back to her parent's room, and gave them the paper back. After they finished looking it over, they looked at each other, and then at me.

"Um, we are going to have a psychologist come and look at you." The queen said. "There is a reason that you can't talk, and they are written on this paper. You are going to either remember how to be happy, or learn how." I nodded my head, then pointed to Anna. "Yes, if Anna wants to stay with you, she can. However, I'm going to leave that up to her."

"Of course I will stay with her, if she wants me to. I'll always be there if she needs me!" Anna exclaimed. _'Just like I would be there for Elsa if she would let me.'_

"That's what we thought you were going to say, but it was up to you. Anyway, why don't you go have breakfast, now? I'm sure you both are hungry, and your father and I have too much work to do. Afterword, go enjoy yourselves. We will come get you when the psychologist comes." Anna and I both nodded our heads, then headed out the door.

After an amazing breakfast of sausage, eggs, and pancakes, Anna forced me to see the doctor. I was a little nervous, since the last time I saw a doctor, I had just received my powers. He looked at it and told me it was sprained. He wrapped it and gave me crutches. He said, "Use these for the next week, and then come see me. I will be able to see if it has healed." Afterword, he saw my stab wound. He cleaned that up, and re-wrapped it. "That should hopefully heal soon. Have Anna or your parents rewrap that once a day."

We left, and decided to go to the library. There were so many books! And in the center of it all was a giant piano. I sat on the ground and listened to Anna play for me. She was really good, and there were only a few breaks when she couldn't remember where a finger was supposed to go. Then she started to teach me how to play it.

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Sorry that this was so short, I am finally starting to get over my writers block! I should (hopefully) be able to update soon! I hope you liked this chapter. I don't know exactly how psychologists evaluate people, so I decided that this one did his own thing. I think most kids who can't talk to people because of their past should see someone. Let me know how you felt about this story, and how you liked everything that was in it. Thanks for reading it!


	6. Chapter 6

Hi Readers! I have the next chapter already! Thanks for reading and reviewing it! I am going to post responses to the reviews for the first time since I started writing!

MantaI-305Apollo'sChariot: Elsa is in her room, but Zoe will get to meet her... Eventually. I promise that they do meet in one of the next couple of chapters. Adgar was having Zoe fill out the form so the psychologist could get a better understanding of her before he met her. I don't know if that is actaully a thing that happens in real life, but it does in this story!

coolnerdgirl: Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Elsa Tormago: I'm going to include both of your reviews into one. Zoey did talk! I will explain how the psychologist helped Elsa while she was still in her room soon... I promise it will be explained!

Enjoy the chapter!

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Eventually the King and Queen came up to let us know that the Psychologist was there. "He worked really well when Elsa was having a hard time. He should work for you, too.

Suddenly a servant came over and bowed. "King Adgar," He said. The King nodded and the servant continued. "Crown Princess Elsa needs someone to help her with her homework." The King nodded to the Queen, who went to see Princess Elsa, while the King led Princess Anna and me to the office where I would be meeting the psychologist.

"Hello," said the Psychologist as soon as I came in. "Today I want to learn as much as I can about you, and see all of the problems you've been having recently." I saw the King silently leave the room, and turned to Anna to try and help.

"Um, she's only lived here for one day, but she doesn't talk, she get nightmares, she doesn't trust people, she has bruises all over her left arm, at least, that's the only place I've seen bruises. She has whispered one tiny sentence, but stuttered the entire time. I don't think she's gotten enough to eat in a while, and she is always scared, and I think I remember the orphanage lady saying she has panic attacks, and she is completely paranoid about us sending her back." Anna listed off, and I nodded, trying to help explain.

"Can you write?" He asked. I nodded, my parents forced me to learn how to write when I was three, and he gave me a piece of paper. "I want you to write down every place you've lived at, for more than one week."

I wrote, 'my parent's house and the orphanage' down. And he looked at the sheet. "Do you remember your parents?" He asked, and I realized I had been choosing to forget them since I was living at the orphanage and realized that they weren't coming back. I also felt the burning anger and fear that I hadn't remembered in a while. Angrily fighting back tears I nodded my head. He wrote something down and Anna leaned over to give me a hug.

"Don't worry. You are safe here. They can never hurt you again." She whispered.

"Did your parents ever hit you or hurt you in a physical way?" He asked. I shook my head, and he looked up, surprised. "How come you aren't living with them now?" He asked, and handed me the piece of paper. 'They went to America,' I wrote. "Didn't you go with them?" He asked. 'They didn't want me to come. They left me in the house alone and never came back.'

"Well that explains why you can't talk. When a traumatic event occurs to someone as young as you are, the brain will take the event that hurt it, and try eliminate it, so that the event becomes something that doesn't get dealt with and continues to scare you. You are going to have to fight back against it and force yourself to talk. Try and start with a person you're comfortable with. I recommend Anna. That's all for today. Tomorrow, we will talk about your experience with the orphanage. See you tomorrow, Zoey. I know we can make everything better." Then he left, and I felt Anna put her arm around me.

"Holy cow, you are shaking so bad. Come here." She gave me a hug, which helped, although I hadn't realized that I was shaking. "Do you want to practice talking?" She asked.

I nodded, then realized what I was doing, and covered my mouth. "I-I m-mean y-yes." I whispered in a barely audible tone. Her eyes lit up.

"You are doing so awesome! You are so perfect! Even when you are struggling, you still try your hardest!" She exclaimed, and I shook my head.

"Y-you a-are p-perfect. N-no o-one h-has e-ever b-been th-this n-nice t-to m-me s-since m-my p-parents l-left." I saw the shocked look on her face. _'No one has ever been this nice to her after she had already been traumatized! No wonder she is having a hard time with nightmares and such. She is so adorable, but people won't let her see that. That's it, I'm going to show her how amazing she is. Somehow.'_

"Y-you d-don't h-have t-to d-do th-that." I whispered, forgetting she doesn't know that I can read thoughts.

"Do what?" She asks. _'Did I say that out loud? Oops.'_

"Sh-show m-me h-how "a-amazing" I-I a-am." I whispered, using air quotes for the part that wasn't true.

She groaned, "You are not "amazing" with air quotes. You ARE amazing. You just don't see it yet."

I shook my head. I know what I saw in myself, and that is a plain, stupid girl, whose parent's hated her, along with the other kids at the orphanage "I-I m-must h-have b-been a-a m-mistake." I accidently whisper, loud enough so Anna can hear.

"No, no, no, no, no." Anna nearly shouted. "You are NOT a mistake. You are an angel who just happened to be mistreated. And that ends now! You are perfect. Sure, you have some things that we are helping you get through, but even if you still get panic attacks, and have nightmares and can't talk, you are still perfect. And I think you are going to make an incredible addition to this family."

I shook my head and refused to believe it. They would either leave me, or hurt me. There was no such thing as a happy ending for me. I also decided I was done talking for the day, and wrote down my thoughts. Anna tried to get me to talk more, but I refused. I tried to listen to what she was thinking, but it was mostly about how she believed that I might start talking again. "Oh well, at least you talked a little bit. That's a start!" She said. "Let's go play, now!"

We hung out for the rest of the day, while still being careful of my entire right leg. It was getting better, but it still hurt a little bit. The King and Queen told us that dinner was ready, and to wash our hands. After dinner, Anna had do her studying for the day, but she told me to explore the castle so I could get to know my home better, and in case I ever needed something, and no one could help me.


	7. Chapter 7

Hi readers! Thanks for all the reviews on the last chapter. There were some technical difficulties, but everything has been resolved now! I hope you like this chapter!

Reviews:

MantaI-305Apollo'sChariot: Thanks for the review. Feel free to rant anytime! Zoe is talking-er whispering! Hope you like this next chapter!

Elsa Tomago: Thanks for reviewing! The psychologist did help Zoe! I wish that Anna and Elsa had that good relationship at this point in their lives, but it can't happen right now. Elsa is too scared. (That is referenced in the movie several times, so I don't think I'm giving anything away.)  
Varus the Shadow Sage: Thanks for reviewing. I hope you continue to enjoy the story!

And here's the story!

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I wandered around for a little while, until I heard a really distraught voice in my head. em'Am I ever going to fix this?' The voice I heard belonged to an older girl. 'I just want Anna back, but I can't risk hurting her, again. Quit being so pathetic, she has that adopted girl now, she doesn't need you. Wait, if she doesn't need me, why am I still alive. There is no reason for me to be here. The world would be off better without me. It always has been, and now I don't have a reason to live.' I stared in shock at the door, in disbelief as to what I was hearing. She was talking about hurting herself so bad that no one could help her! I forced myself to stop thinking about what her thoughts could lead to and went to open the door, but it was locked, so instead I knocked.

Coming," I heard the person inside say. When she opened the door, I was in even more shock. Princes Elsa was the voice I was hearing! She looked around, and was about to close the door, when she saw me. She glared at me. "What do you want?" I flinched at her accusing tone.

I-I c-can h-hear y-your th-thoughts," I whispered. "Y-you're th-thinking o-of h-hurting y-yours-self."

"You can read people's thoughts?" She rolled her eyes, "Sure you can. And why do you even care? You have already taken the only thing I have ever cared about."

"Y-you d-don't e-even c-care a-about y-yourself? H-hey i-is th-that s-snow?" I suddenly saw that her room was full of snow and ice.

"No, I don't know what you are talking about," She said but she seemed nervous. I decided to force her to tell me by barging past her, and sitting down in her room, even though it was freezing. I assumed that her window was broken, because it was the middle of winter. Which would also explain why she was wearing gloves. "Please get out. You aren't supposed to be here."

"N-no," I whispered back, although somewhat childishly. "Y-you h-have t-to t-tell m-me wh-why th-this i-is th-the f-first t-time I-I've s-seen y-you."

Suddenly, I saw it, and understood why she locked herself behind her door all the time. '"Catch me," "Slow down" Small princess Elsa felt the pain of smacking her head on the ground, but was too focused on Anna to notice. Anna had been jumping from snow mound to snow mound that Elsa had been creating, but didn't notice that Elsa wasn't ready for her to jump. Elsa tried to create a snow mound, but accidently hit her sister instead. She cried for her parents, and started apologizing to Anna. Her father came in, and asked, "Elsa, what have you done?" "It was an accident. I'm sorry Anna." The flashback disappeared, and I stared at Elsa.  
I guess you saw that, since, apparently, you can read minds." She said sarcastically. I nodded my head. "Wait. You can actually read my mind?"

"Y-yes." I whispered.

What's that like? Are people mean to you just because you can do that?" She paused for a second. "Wait. Do my parents know?"

"I-I d-don't w-want th-them." I whispered. "No-no o-one's b-been m-mean t-to m-me, b-but I-I w-want t-to b-be n-normal a-again. Y-you a-are th-the o-only p-person wh-who k-knows. A-are y-you g-g-going t-t-to t-tell o-on m-me?" I asked, and sighed in relief when she told me she wouldn't tell. "Wh-what a-are y-your p-powers l-like?"  
Well, they were fun, unil the accident. Now I wish they weren't here." _Or that I wasn't here_.

Suddenly, she dashed over to her closet door, opened it, and told me to get inside. She seemed really nervous so I did as she asked. As soon as she closed the closet door, her bedroom door creaked open, and I heard footsteps coming in.

"Hello, Princess Elsa," I heard the King say. She, however, didn't respond. "You didn't let Princess Anna in, did you?"

"Why would I do that? I might hurt her again." Her voice was monotone, the little emotion she had showed me earlier were completely gone.

I heard the sound of skin slapping skin, and a muffled cry of pain. "Ok, now I believe you, but you have to make it your responsibility to keep those awful powers of yours a secret." Her father said, which surprised me. He seemed like a nice person, but he just insulted Elsa and her powers. No wonder she looked so… numb. Poor Elsa! I wanted to jump out and yell at him, and tell him that her powers were pretty, the evidence was all over the walls, and she shouldn't be locked away for one mistake, but I hadn't even whispered to him and, I knew I wouldn't be able to do it now. I also didn't want to get Elsa into trouble, which I knew was going to happen if I did anything, since that was the reason I was hiding in her closet. Also, I didn't want to be hurt.

I heard footsteps leaving, the closet door opened, and I walked out. Her face was already turning red from the force of his hand. "I'm so sorry you had to hear that. He's a good person. He has just never been able to accept my powers. Could you please go, now?" I could hear the sadness in her tone of voice, so I chose not to argue. I really wanted to give her a hug, but she seemed really scared, and I didn't want to make it worse. Instead, I promised her I wouldn't tell Anna anything, and left.

Later that night, I was lying in Anna's bed, because I had woken up from a nightmare and was too scared to wake her up. I think I read Elsa's mind in my sleep, because the nightmare was a slower version of what happened, except that Anna hadn't woken up. When I woke up, I knew I couldn't wake Anna up without explaining what happened to her when she was little, and I'd promised Elsa I wouldn't do that. Anyway, I felt safer with Anna, and was able to fall asleep. This time, I didn't dream of anything, and woke up when Anna did.

The next morning, the Queen helped fix my leg, again. It was way better than yesterday, and I was able to move it more. Then we went to breakfast, and the King decided that I needed to work on my table manners. They showed me how to use the fork and spoon, which took a lot longer than eating with my hands, but they told me I wouldn't get desert for dinner if I didn't eat "properly."

After breakfast, Anna let me wear one of her old dresses, which was a short purple dress with a white bow in the middle. After that, we went down to see the psychologist.  
Yesterday, we talked about your parents. Now I want to talk about your experience at the orphanage." The psychologist said, which made me flinch. "It's alright. I don't think you made any friends there. Is this correct?" I nodded. "Did anyone hurt you?" I nodded again.

"You are going to be alright." Anna said. "You just have to tell him the truth, and he will figure out how to make you feel better." That encouraged me enough to mutter, "y-yes."

"Do you want to tell me why they did it, and what happened?" I couldn't find it in me to talk about it, so, instead, I wrote. 'I was the newest kid, and apparently there is a mean tradition for those people. They usually only punched or kicked me, but one time someone threw me on the ground, and someone else slapped me. My last day there, they stabbed me with scissors. On top of all that, they told me I was ugly, and that my parent's had left me for a reason and I didn't deserve to live.' I had tears streaming down my face by the time I was finished writing, and Anna just gave me a hug.

"Oh my goodness, Zoey. I'm so sorry." Anna said.

The psychologist just shook his head. "We can probably get closure for you by getting the kids that hurt you in a lot of trouble, but if we can't, I just want you to know that they are very bitter. Often, they are in pain, and try to get rid of it by being mean to others. I bet all of them went through what you went through, and got excited to know that they were powerful enough to make someone else feel exactly how they did." He told me. "You are going to have to stop telling yourself these things. Yes, it's going to be hard, but it is important. Tomorrow, I want you to tell me one thing you like about yourself. Ok?" I nodded my head. "Good. See you tomorrow."

Anna was going to play with me, to help soothe my nerves, but she had some homework from the day before she still hadn't finished. So, I was forced to play by myself. I decided to go see how Elsa was doing. I know she didn't want me to, but I decided I didn't care, and knocked on the door.  
Who is it?" she asked, but I didn't answer. "If you don't answer I'm not going to open the door." I tried to whisper my name, but she didn't hear it, and stayed true to her word. I tried to open it, but it was locked. Finally, I gave up and left.

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I hope you liked it!


	8. Chapter 8

Hey guys! I hope you all are doing well. I am so sorry I took such a long time to update. I got really busy with school and work, and then I had a horrible writers block. I hope you enjoy reading this! I'm going to try to update more often.

Elsa Tomago- Thank you so much for reviewing! I tried to make this chapter more positive. I hope you enjoy it!

Onto the story!

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After I left Elsa's door, I wandered around the halls for a little while, thinking about how much better my life was and how grateful I was for that change, when I realized I was lost. There wasn't anyone around to help me, either, and I knew I was going to have to find my way back. I tried to turn around and see where the hall led me, but I didn't recognize any part of it.

I continued doing this for a long time, without even seeing anything that looked familiar. Finally, I gave up, leaned against the wall and sat down. My leg was really hurting, and my ankle didn't feel much better. "Oh, hello. You must be Zoey. Anna was looking for you." A woman said. I didn't recognize her, so I started scooting away, got up, and prepared to limp quickly when she grabbed my arm. I tried to scream, as my "parents" had taught me, but I was too scared, gave up, and started struggling to get away. "Oh, I guess you don't know who I am. I am the Gerda, the head servant." I stopped struggling and looked up. "Anna finished her homework a while ago, and has been frantically looking for you. I can lead the way." For some reason, I decided to trust her, and followed her around the maze that was the castle. We went into the kitchen, and I saw Anna and started limping to her.

"Oh Zoey, I was so concerned for you." Anna said as she picked me up. "Thanks so much, Gerda."

' _That was weird. I wonder why she freaked out when I tried to lead her back.'_ Gerda's thoughts faded out of my mind until I could no longer hear them.

"Ok, let's work on your homework," Anna said. I looked at her questioningly. "You know, you have to identify one good thing you like about yourself." I stared at her for a long time, trying to come up with something that was positive about myself, and finally shook my head.

 _Why is she being like this? All she needs to do is name one good thing about herself. How hard can that be, really?'_

We started walking up to our room, because she felt it would be easier for me to think, even though she believed it shouldn't have been that hard. "Ok," She said, once we arrived. We are in an area you are comfortable with. Do you have any ideas?" I tried really hard to think of something, but every time I thought of something, I disagreed with it.

' _Maybe I'm pretty? No, the other kids wouldn't have called me ugly. Am I skinny? The King seems to think I'm too skinny, so that must be a bad thig. I'm not creative. I'm scared. But that's not a good thing, either. Ugh, I don't know.'_

"I-I d-don't k-know." I forced myself to whisper.

"What have you come up with?" She asked.

"I-I a-am n-not p-pretty, c-creative, o-or b-brave." I whispered back.

"I'm going to list something off for you, and you can nod or shake your head yes or no. Ready?" I nodded. "Your hair color is pretty." I shook my head. "You are really sweet." I shook my head. "You are silly." I shook my head. "Come on. There has got to be something you like about yourself. Oh, I know. You are a fast learner. You learned how to climb down that tree really quickly. Especially since you had an injured leg. I fell down too many times when I was a little older than you are right now." I looked at her questioningly. "Well, I did. Just ask Gerda. I broke my leg one time, and when my leg healed, I sprained my arm. I was covered in bruises for a long time, even after I had been practicing for a while." I gave up and just nodded my head. I didn't believe it, but at least that was over.

That night was uneventful. The King and Queen were trying to make me eat "properly." I didn't understand. The food is supposed to get into my mouth. Does it really matter how? Unfortunately for me, the King and Queen didn't seem to care about my opinion on the matter. They worked on it all dinner.

I didn't even bother reading Elsa's thoughts after dinner, because I knew she wouldn't have liked it. Since I had found out that her parents didn't like her powers, I decided not to tell them about my ability to read people's thoughts. I didn't need to give them yet another reason to kick me out, which was going to happen soon, anyway.

"Hey, ready for bed?" Anna interrupted my thoughts. I nodded, and the two of us climbed into our separate beds. I knew Anna would fall asleep right away. Her breathing started to even out and become deeper. I was torn between falling asleep and staying awake. I was too scared and too tired of dealing with the nightmares, but at the same time, I was really tired because the nightmares constantly woke me up. The part of me that didn't want to go to sleep eventually won out, and I found myself wandering around the halls, again.

This time, I was going to Elsa's room, even though I knew she didn't want me there. I felt more comfortable around her because she had powers like me. I also knew she could sense me outside of her door, because I heard her think of me, one time when I was walking by her room, and I told her about it, later. She didn't like having me around because she thought she was going to hurt me, but I knew that she was even more careful when I was around, so she wasn't going to have any accidents.

By the time I reached Elsa's room, I was able to see some of her thoughts. They became clearer as I got closer, and I was able to start seeing a bunch of angry townspeople surrounding Elsa. They were all chanting the word "monster" and holding pitchforks. The leader was some random civilian who must have had some sort of grudge on Elsa. He grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her back. A fire suddenly appeared in front of them. "No, please." I could hear dream-Elsa mutter. They started pushing her closer and closer to the fire. I couldn't take it anymore, and barged into her unlocked room.

She was on the bed, thrashing around, and was completely tangled in the covers. Her beautiful white hair was all over her face and pillow, and there seemed to be a couple of wet marks running down her cheeks. Snow was falling all around the room, where ice had already spread across the carpet of her room. I ran over and started shaking her.

The vision finally started going away until it disappeared completely. Elsa blinked her eyes, saw me, pulled up the covers and mumbled, "No, please don't hurt me. I promise I'll leave right away. Just leave me alone." I looked up confused at her. She started figuring out where she was at. "Wait a second… What are you doing in here? Get away from me! I don't want to hurt you! And how did you get in here anyways?"

"Y-you h-had a-a n-nightmare. I-I j-just w-wanted t-to m-make i-it s-stop." I whispered, shyly looking at the ground. "A-and y-your d-door w-was u-unlocked."

"Well, thank you, but you need to leave. It's not safe for you in here. Next time you know that I'm having a nightmare, please don't come in, even if the door is unlocked, which I will make sure that the door stays locked. I really don't want to hurt you." She told me, and glared at the ice. As much as I wanted to argue, I knew it wouldn't help me or her. I really wanted her to let me in, because I knew I could be there for her, just like Anna was for me.

I walked back to my room, wishing that there was some way I could get her to talk to me. When I talked about my problems to Anna, it made me feel like there was someone who cared. I wondered if I could do the same for her, because no one in else the castle was willing to do that for her. I finally fell asleep on my bed, and was able to have a dreamless night.

The days seemed to drag on. I was eventually able to walk without the crutches, and my stab wound stopped hurting. One day, the psychologist began trying to have me talk about my feelings. I was only comfortable enough to whisper to Anna, and that was just answering his questions without talking any extra than I had to. He kept giving me assignments that required me to find something that I liked about myself. I couldn't even come up with one good thing to say, let alone five things per week.

One day, the psychologist wanted me to start talking with my voice rather than whisper to him. I didn't want to talk to him, because I didn't feel comfortable enough around him, but I also wasn't sure if I was going to be able to use my voice. I didn't want to talk to Anna, either, because I didn't want her thinking anything mean either, especially since I could hear her thoughts. So, I just crossed my arms, shook my head and stared at the ground. He finally gave up.

"What if I gave it to you as homework, and you can practice and show me our next meeting?" He asked. I decided this sounded better than being forced to talk right now, so I gave in and nodded my head. "Ok. Well this wraps up this meeting. The King and Queen can see that these meetings are helping you. You are beginning to show a lot of improvement. When a person is improving, they don't need to see me as often. Therefore, the King and Queen want me to come three days a week, now. Do you think you are ready?" I nodded my head. "Ok, Zoey. See you on Monday!" He left, and Anna gave me a hug. "Good job, Zoey. If Mom and Dad only want him to come in less than he has been, they must be seeing some improvement. I know I have!" I smiled and gave her a hug. "Just out of curiosity, why weren't you willing to talk to the psychologist?"

I stared at the ground debating on whether or not to tell her. "C-cause m-my v-voice i-is b-bad." I whispered.

Anna looked shocked. "I bet it isn't. So far everything you have told me that is bad about yourself isn't true. You should've tried. No one would have laughed. I know I wouldn't have, and the psychologist wouldn't do that to you. Now that it's just the two of us, do you want to try?" I shook my head, and she sighed. "Ok, just let me know when you are ready to try, and I will be willing to listen."

I knew that I wouldn't ever be ready to talk in my real voice, so I just nodded my head, and the two of us walked out the room.

Dinner that night was uncomfortable. The King and Queen had been told that I wouldn't talk to the psychologist, or Anna, and they decided to make it their mission to get me to talk.

"Hey Zoey! You've been living here for several weeks. I think it's time that you start using your voice." The King said. I shook my head, and the Queen jumped in, too.

"I'll bet your voice is lovely. Don't be afraid to talk to us. We are here for you!" I shook my head and tried to focus on using proper etiquette. They kept trying, even though I felt really uncomfortable. This continued for a really long time, until I couldn't take it anymore.

"I-I s-said NO!" I whisper-screamed, before fleeing to my bedroom, and crawling under my bed. I knew that they were going to come look for me, and that was the best spot to hide. I realized I had just screamed at the King and Queen, and I knew that there was going to be some sort of punishment for it.

' _Wow, good job._ ' The mean thoughts invaded my head, and I couldn't make them stop. ' _All you had to do was be normal, and you couldn't even do that. You are going straight back to the orphanage. At least there, they tell you the truth. None of these lies this family has been feeding you, because they are too nice to tell you the truth._ '

The mean thoughts continued to talk, and I started sobbing. Suddenly, someone had grabbed my hand and was squeezing it. At first it was comforting, but then I realized that they were being nice so they could kick me out, and I struggled to free myself. They wouldn't let go, and I tried to squirm out of their grasp until I heard Anna say, "Hey it's going to be ok. Don't freak out. I told Mom and Dad to wait until you were ready to talk, rather than forcing you. No one is going to send you to the orphanage." I opened my mouth to ask how she knew, but she seemed to understand what I was going to say. "You had a bad dream a while ago, and you kept whispering, 'please. I can't go back. They aren't nice.' I told Mom and Dad about it, and they agreed that you need someone to love you, especially now."

"Wh-why d-did th-they t-try a-and f-f-force m-me?" I whispered. I was so scared, I stumbled over every word that I said more than usual.

"I think they thought you were ready, and you needed a little extra push to start. Now, I'm going to ask you a question, that, if you are comfortable enough, you can answer it. When did you stop talking?" Anna asked.

I sighed, and decided that I needed to tell her, because it was something she needed to know. "Wh-when m-my p-par-rents l-left m-me, m-my v-voice w-wouldn't w-work. I-I w-want-ted t-to t-talk, b-but I-I c-couldn't." I lowered my head in shame, and I felt Anna give me a hug. I decided that I needed to be brave enough to tell her. "Wh-when I-I w-went t-to th-the o-orph-phanage, th-the k-kids w-were me-mean t-to m-me, a-and I-I d-didn't h-have a-anyone t-to t-talk t-to." I took a deep breath, and forced myself to finish. "I-I th-think th-that I-I w-was t-too sc-scar-red b-by th-the ti-time y-you ad-adopted m-me." I finished.

"Oh my goodness, I'm so sorry you had to go through all that. You are only five! Don't worry, we won't ever leave you. We adopted you, and we intend to keep it that way. Mom and Dad want to talk to you. They need to apologize for pushing you too far."

She led me to the living room where her mom and dad were sitting on the couch. "Hello Zoe," the Queen said. "We want to apologize for forcing you to talk before you were ready. We didn't know it was going to make you so upset."

"Yes, we never intended to scare you away. Do you forgive us?" They asked, and I nodded my head to say yes.

' _Dang it, I thought for sure that would make her talk,'_ I heard the King's thoughts. _'She needs to learn how to talk soon. A child cannot be a princess if they refuse to talk.'_

Anna wanted me to try climbing the tree again, but I was a little nervous. "Don't worry. I'll help you until you are ready to try by yourself." She helped me get to the same spot as last time, and then sat down on the branch with enough room for me to sit, too.

"I have noticed that you are a lot happier. You smile more often, and your face is constantly lighting up. I am so proud of everything that you have accomplished. Even if you can only whisper and stutter for your entire life, I am still proud of you for doing that, because that is still more than you could do when I first met you." I looked up at her, even though I was crying and realized that she was tearing up, too."

"Th-thank-k y-you s-so m-much." I whisper-stuttered and gave her a hug. I was so grateful that the royal family adopted me, and treated me better than anywhere else I have lived.

We stayed up there for a little while. Even though winter was almost over, the air was still a little cold. I noticed that both Anna and I had goosebumps, and told her that I was ready to go down.

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I hope you enjoyed reading this! I would really appreciate it if you would review, but you definitely don't have to. I should be updating really soon.


	9. Chapter 9

Hello readers! I hope you like this chapter. I tried to give you a quicker update to apologize for how inconsistant my updates have been, and because I won't be able to post another chapter next week. I will update as soon as I can, but it definitley won't be until after next Saturday. Also, school is starting up again, but I will try not to let that affect how often I update.

Elsa Tomago- I responded to your review in a PM. Thanks for reviewing every chapter!

Also, thanks to anyone who is reading this but isn't reviewing.

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The days continued to pass uneventfully. Soon months had passed, and before I knew it, it had nearly been a year since I was last in the orphanage. I was starting to look around and notice more things, like how the gates were always closed. I thought it was weird how we weren't allowed to go outside of the castle area, and that the windows and doors were nearly always shut, even though the sun was our main source of light. I still couldn't talk without whispering, but that was becoming more normal for me and the King and Queen had accepted me, too. Even though I still stuttered when I whispered, it was happening less. Even my nightmares only happened about once a week, and I didn't have panic attacks. The psychologist told me that his sessions were over. I had recovered enough to not need him anymore.

I woke up one morning, and something felt a little weird. I looked around, trying to figure out what was wrong, and realized that Anna wasn't in bed, even though she normally slept in until noon. I got out of bed, still trying to figure out what was different about today. I was walking downstairs towards the kitchen, and could hear whispers. I tried to focus in on people's thoughts to try and figure out what was happening.

 _'…_ _Finish this cake and I'm going to go wake her up.'_ I heard Anna think, before she started rambling about how the icing was supposed to be perfect. I tried to figure out why she needed a cake and who she was going to wake up. I decided to go downstairs to see.

"Hi, A-anna," I whispered. _'Dang, I was so close to not stuttering!'_ I thought. Anna whipped around, saw me, and started to lead me out of the room. "Can I h-help you finish th-the cake and wake up wh-who ev-ever it is th-that you w-wanted to?" I asked, forgetting that she didn't know about my ability to read minds.

"Wait, what? I never said that out loud! How did you know that without me telling you?" Anna started questioning me.

"I-I'm s-sorry," I whispered. "I forgot th-that you d-didn't know that I-I can read p-people's thoughts." I was worried that she was going to be really upset at me for not telling her, or for having such powers in the first place.

"So you can hear what I'm thinking! Wait, does that mean that you can read Elsa's thoughts?" I nodded my head. "Would you be willing to tell me what she's thinking?"

I shook my head. I couldn't tell her Elsa's private thoughts without Elsa knowing. "I-if I get h-her to agree to l-let me share with y-you."

"There's no way she would agree to let you tell me. Thanks, though." I decided right then that I was going to try to get Elsa to share with me. "Oh, by the way." Anna said. "You got up before I could surprise you, but happy Birthday!"

She held out the cake that said 'Happy sixth birthday, Zoey.' "You did th-this for m-me?" I whispered. I ran over and hugged her. I was so happy! I hadn't had a real birthday, because my family was too poor to do anything. In fact, they hardly ever said "Happy Birthday" to me. Even when they still loved me. I realized that it was because they were planning on moving away, and wanted to save up money, and that they really never cared for me. I couldn't help the tears from falling. "Thank you so much! I h-haven't had a b-birthday p-party! Wh-what's it l-like?"

"Wait, what! Your parents' didn't even do that for you! I'm glad that we are able to stop that. We are going to eat the cake later. I promised my parents that I would only show you the cake. We have to wait to eat it until later tonight, ok?" Anna said. I nodded my head. I could definitely wait to eat the cake. I was just happy I was going to get a cake this year.

After breakfast, Anna excused herself so she could do her lessons, and I went up to talk to Elsa. I knocked on the door, and hoped that she would open it.

"Hello, Zoey." Elsa said without opening the door.

"C-can I come i-in?" I whispered as loud as I could. She finally opened it and I repeated my question.

"Sure." In the past year, Elsa had slowly been becoming nicer to me, and occasionally let me in her room, when she felt as if her powers were really subdued, and her parents weren't around. Often, when I would see her, I could tell that she had been having a bad day, but her face always lit up when she saw me. "For the record, I am only doing this because no one is around, and it's your birthday. Was there something you wanted to ask me?"

I nodded my head. "C-can I tell Anna wh-what you are th-thinking? It wouldn't be a-anything about your p-powers, just that you m-miss her and that y-you like having h-her knock on the d-door."

She started to think about it for a moment, "I guess you can. Tell her that I miss her and that I all I want is to see her, but it's too dangerous. Now please leave, I can't control them anymore." As she spoke, ice started coating the floor, and she backed away in horror. "Conceal, don't feel. Conceal, don't feel."

I left and headed towards Anna's room and sat outside until the lesson was over. When I saw the tutor leave her room, I headed inside. Anna was sitting at her desk finishing the last problem. "Hello, Zoey," She said when she finished. "How's your birthday going so far?"

"Amazing. I h-have a present for y-you to th-thank you for a-adopting me!" I whispered really excitedly.

"Really, what is it?" She asked.

"Elsa told me i-it was o-ok for me to t-tell her some o-of her thoughts." I whispered.

"Wait, Elsa talked to you?" She asked. I nodded my head. "Why would she talk to you and not me? I'm her own sister and she still chooses the abandoned orphan over me. That's not even fair. I knock on her door all the time and she doesn't listen to me at all, but when a little girl she's never even met goes to knock on her door, she talks to her. AND YET SHE STILL REFUSES TO TALK TO ME!" Anna stormed out, leaving me alone and a more than a little scared.

 _'_ _I know everything she said is true, but it still hurts. It's not my fault. Why'd she have to take her anger out on me? I was just trying to do as she asked.'_

After pondering it over for a little while, I decided I needed to leave the room, in case Anna came back and was still angry. I couldn't be angry at her, especially after everything she had done for me, but I was a little scared that she was still mad at me, even though I was just trying to help.

I still didn't know the castle completely, but I decided that I should go to the library, since Anna wouldn't think to look there, and I started walking over. I had just stepped out of the bedroom, when I saw Anna coming back. I tried to go the other way and hope that she didn't see me, but she called out my name, and I forced myself to turn around.

"I am so sorry about that. I just got mad, because she hasn't been answering the door at all when I knock for almost a decade, and then she opens the door for you, when you haven't even been living here for a year."

I felt a lot better after she apologized. That meant that she did care about me if she was willing to apologize. "I f-forgive you. Can I t-tell you what she i-is thinking?" Anna nodded her head, so I continued. "'I-I miss Anna s-so much. Maybe one day I-I will be able t-to tell her h-how much she m-means to me a-and why I h-have to lock her out f-for her protection. I-I love it w-when she knocks, t-too. It means I-I know she st-still loves me, even if I-I'm not allowed t-to talk to her.' See! Sh-she does still care a-about you, r-right now she has t-to protect you for some reason, but she's s-still doing it out of love." I tried to explain. Anna understood, kind of.

"What is keeping her from being able to see me?" She asked, but I couldn't tell her. Instead, I told her that Elsa had forbidden me from saying anything, which was kind of true. Someday, Elsa would be ready to tell Anna, but that was going to be on her terms, not mine.

We had lunch, and then went outside. The warm part of fall was almost over, and we wanted to get as much out of it as possible. She was teaching me how to kick the soccer ball so it would go really far. The sun was out, which kept us warm enough to play for a little while. After being outside for a while, the wind was starting to blow really hard, the clouds quickly covered the sky, the rain poured down upon us, and we realized that a thunderstorm was coming. We grabbed the soccer ball and dashed for the house as fast as we could.

By the time we got in, we were soaked, and had to change our clothes before our parents would let us eat. At dinner, the King had an announcement to make. "Since you are six years old, now, you are going to start your first year of school, just like most other kids would. We have a tutor, and you are going to be learning about math, history, English, and you get to choose another language, which you will decide tomorrow. This is going to be a great opportunity for you, and we are really proud to be able to give you this education."

They then pulled out the cake, which was chocolate with chocolate frosting. It was the best, and only, cake I'd ever eaten. I realized that, while the King, Queen, Anna and I were downstairs eating this delicious cake, Elsa wasn't getting any of it, just like how she never got any meals with us. "C-can I-I t-take s-some cake u-up f-for E-Elsa?" I asked, hating how I couldn't stop stuttering. It wouldn't have been so important if I knew the King and Queen didn't care whether I did or not.

They stared at each other for a long time, as if having a mental debate. I tried to catch every thought that both of them were having, but could only hear a couple of phrases. _'She doesn't deserve cake, she still hasn't controlled her powers."_ This was the King

 _"_ _She has been working so hard at it, I think we need to give her a treat for trying her hardest all the time."_ I heard the Queen think. I looked at both of them, and finally the King won.

"She doesn't deserve any cake," said the King. I was going to argue with him, but Anna beat me to it.

"What do you mean she doesn't deserve cake? Why wouldn't she deserve cake? That's not nice! When it's someone's birthday, everyone should get cake!"

"Anna, there is something Elsa is working on that she needs to figure out before she deserves anything special. You are too young to understand what it is. When the time comes, you will be able to know. Until then, Elsa doesn't deserve cake." The King finished. Anna and I both stared at him. I knew that Anna was surprised by this announcement, but she was still in the dark, just like how I was supposed to be. They were talking about Elsa not being able to control her powers! How could she not deserve cake? She was working so hard to make sure she didn't hurt anyone, which she wasn't going to do, anyways, and they were telling her to control her powers by concealing her emotions. She was working so hard to do that, but it wasn't going to work.

Later that night, Anna and I were getting ready for bed, when I said, "W-we should go g-get cake for E-Elsa!" Anna looked a bit surprised at first, but she agreed that it would be a really good thing to do for her.

At about midnight, when the King and Queen were fast asleep, we snuck down to the kitchen, took out a slice of cake, put it on a plate. Anna leaned over and said, "It's so cool you can read minds. You can tell me if Elsa at least appreciated the cake."

We turned around, and saw King Adgar staring at us. "Now just what do you think you two are doing?" He asked. I prayed that he hadn't heard what Anna said, even though she had been fairly loud about it. He wasn't even nice to his own daughter because of her powers, let alone an orphan he didn't have to keep.

"Elsa deserves cake!" Anna yelled and stomped her foot. "She's my sister and I'm going to make sure she gets at least a little piece." She turned to walk away, but the King grabbed her arm and prevented her from doing so.

"That's it. The two of you are grounded."

"What does it matter? I'm already not allowed to go past the castle grounds! I still can't see my sister after ten years! There is no point in grounding me, Dad! I have nothing you can take away!"

He realized that she was right, and started thinking about what he could take away. He looked around the room. _'No chocolate for a month? No. That's too light of a punishment. They need something really harsh.'_ Then he saw me. _'I need to keep them separated for a month. That will teach the both of them to go against anything I say again. That way, this'll never happen again.'_

He cleared his throat and said, "You two are forbidden to see each other for a month. You can't sleep together, you will no longer be allowed to eat together, and if you get caught in the same room, you will have another month added to the end of your punishment. Understand?" We both nodded, and he walked us up to Anna's room, dropped her off, and then took me to another part of the castle that I hadn't had the chance to explore. He brought me to a room that I assumed was a guest room. "Your meals will be brought up to you for the next month. You need to stay in here at all times until I say you can come out. Also, try not to read people's thoughts." He said, "That's really creepy." With that he locked the door and left. I crawled underneath the covers and cried myself to sleep, not even considering trying to escape.

That night, I had an awful nightmare that the King was sending me back to the orphanage because of what had happened. The kids in the orphanage mocked me all night, and I couldn't get away from it. No matter how fast I ran away, I could still hear them all around me, telling me everything that was wrong with me, and how I deserved this punishment. I stopped running, closed my eyes and covered my ears, but I could hear them, plain as day.

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I hope you enjoyed this!


	10. Chapter 10

I'm so sorry for the late update. I finished the chapter, then spent weeks trying to edit it, and make it look as perfect as possible. Anyways, I hope you enjoy it!

Elsa Tomago- I replied to your review in a PM. If you want me to send it again, just let me know. Thanks!

I hope you enjoy the story!

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I finally woke up the next morning and tried to find Anna so I could know how she was doing, but realized that she wasn't there, and remembered the punishment from last night. I tried to listen for her thoughts, but realized she was too far away. In fact, I couldn't hear anyone's thoughts except Gerda's, and they seemed to be getting louder, like she was getting closer to me.

Then I heard a knock at the door, and a female voice called out, "It's Gerda. I have clothes for you to wear, and your breakfast." I walked over and let her in. "I'm so sorry that this happened to you. I don't know what caused this punishment, but this is not ok. Just bear with it, and it will be over soon. Your tutor is coming today, and he will work with you for a couple hours and then you will have some homework. King Adgar is going to check up on you once your lessons are finished." She turned around to leave.

"C-can s-someone st-stay w-with m-me?" I whispered.

She looked at me and said, "I will ask King Adgar, but I don't think he will be ok with, since this technically is a punishment. I will if he says it's okay, but I can't go against his orders, and I would get caught too easily. I will continue to support you and make sure you make it through this month." Then she left, and I was alone with my thoughts, again.

I put on the dress. It was my favorite dark purple color, but I didn't care, because I would rather have Anna than a pretty dress. I tried to think of the good things that being locked in the room would do, but I couldn't come up with anything. I didn't need Anna to survive, but she was so much fun to be around. Now I was stuck by myself with my mean thoughts that were coming back. Without Anna's constant positivity, I couldn't shut them out.

Gerda had brought food that smelled amazing, but I wasn't hungry. I just wanted out of the room. _'How does Elsa do this all the time without going crazy? I haven't even been in here for a whole day, and I'm already sick of it. This isn't even fair! I just wanted to do something nice for Elsa, and I got punished for it! Why is the King so mean to her? Everything that they taught her is bad, and I know she's not happy. She has mean thoughts, kinda like me at the orphange, except hers are much meaner and completely non-stop. That's not fair. It means someone isn't treating her right. Well, duh, her own parents don't treat her right. I heard her father literally smack her! I wish I could be out of here. I'll do everything I can to get her out of her room.'_

I realized that Elsa had it much worse than I did, and that no one else understood what she was going through. The King did tell me that she had a psychologist, but she was still getting those thoughts. I could hear them whenever I walked by, but her parent's couldn't tell, because of the "conceal don't feel" nonsense that she had been taught. _'She's become so good at hiding her emotions from them, they don't even realize that she is hurting! Or they realize she is hurting and don't care enough to do anything about it anymore.'_

My train of thought would have continued, except the tutor came in. He introduced himself as Jim, and sat down to start teaching me math. He spent part of the time teaching me how to count from zero to ten. It was hard. Part of the reason was because he wanted me to talk out loud, and I didn't know him well enough to talk to him. The other part was because I hadn't done a lot of work with numbers. Then he taught me my alphabet, which I already knew, because my original parents forced me to learn big words when I was still living with them. He also helped me learn how to read, but he wanted me to sound out most of the words, and I had just met him that day, so I wasn't comfortable with him at all. Instead, he chose to read the book to me, and let me follow along. He told me that I was going to learn American Sign Language with Anna, and he was going to talk Elsa into learning it, too, because we could practice together and help each other out. Then he left, and I was alone, again.

I didn't have anything to do. I didn't want to stare out the window, because I wanted to be outside, and looking out there made me feel even more upset than I already was. I was still so mad at the King for doing this to me. I didn't think I could ever forgive him for this, because I wasn't doing anything wrong, I was just giving Elsa a little bit of cake. Even Anna was there with me, but she probably didn't get in any trouble, since she couldn't read people's thoughts, and she wasn't the little orphan girl that no one wanted. Her parents actually loved her.

The King eventually came into my new room to see if I understood the information. I decided I wasn't going to talk to him, and answered him by either shaking or nodding my head. "Why aren't you talking?" He asked. I shrugged my shoulders, and that seemed to make him even madder. _'What a brat. We give her food, shelter, water, and a place to live and this is how she pays us back!? By not talking!?_ "You used to at least whisper! What's wrong with you?" I shrugged my shoulders again. Pretending I didn't care was much better than crying, which is what I was going to do when he left. Once he realized I had no intentions of talking, he stalked out the door, slamming it behind him.

I tried to open the door after he closed it, and realized I was locked in. Again. After that, I couldn't keep the tears from falling. I lay on my bed and cried for a long time, until I couldn't cry anymore. I didn't get lunch or dinner. I only knew it was nighttime by the fact that it was dark outside. I realized I was exhausted from all the crying, and passed out immediately

After I woke up, I decided to make the best of my situation and explore the room to see if there was a bathroom. There was one more door, aside from the one that led out into the hall, and I tried it to see if it was unlocked. It was! Inside of it, there was a bathtub, a toilet, and a sink. It was much better than the buckets we used in the orphanage, which I had to clean out every morning and night. Aside from the bathroom and one closet, there was nothing else in the room. It was so boring, I didn't know how I was going to survive another day, let alone a whole month.

The days passed by even more slowly than they did while I was at the orphanage. At least then I was doing _something._ Now I just sat, and tried to not let the silence get to me. My thoughts kept telling me how stupid I was and how I was lucky to have been adopted in the first place, so _why_ did I have to go and screw it up again. I was probably going to be sent back to the orphanage. The thoughts were getting out of hand, and I couldn't make them stop. I figured the King was just going to get mad at me for having them, and I was going to get into more trouble if I told anyone, so I just tried to ignore them, and hoped that they would go away.

The only good part of my day was when the tutor came to help me with my math and reading, because then I wasn't sitting mindlessly and I actually got to do something. I enjoyed what I was doing, too. I always was excited to learn more things. I could count up to one hundred, by writing the numbers down. He also said that my handwriting was getting neater and becoming more legible. I liked it when he said that. I tried really hard on my handwriting, and I was glad that he was able to tell. When he left, I was on my own, again, and I had nothing to do. The King must have told him not to give me paper, because whenever I pointed to extra paper at the end of a lesson, he would shake his head, take his keys out to unlock the door, and leave.

After the first couple of days, Gerda noticed that I wasn't eating, and tried to force me to eat, but I still wasn't hungry. "Zoey, you need to eat. Humans can only go a few weeks without eating. I don't want you to hurt yourself." I closed my eyes and shook my head. "Zoey, please. I know you may feel hurt and alone, but I care about you, and I care that you aren't eating. Your body needs this to function." No matter how much she tried to convince me to eat, I still refused. My stomach usually ached, and I felt as if I'd throw up anything I tried to eat.

The days started running together, and soon, I had no idea how long I'd been trapped in that room. I was starting to panic about how the walls seemed to constantly be getting closer, but no one there to make sure I was able to recover. A lot of times, I would have such a bad panic attack that I would pass out, and Gerda would wake me up hours later. She tried to get me to talk about it, or to talk at all, but I couldn't talk. At first I was doing it out of anger, but eventually I actually couldn't talk. I was scared for the day I got let out of the room, and Anna would be able to see how messed up I had become. Even the nightmares were coming back in full force of the King leaving me in here forever or abandoning me at the orphanage. I usually woke up shaking and trying to calm myself down.

As more days passed, I realized that I was going to have a more difficult time living than when I first moved into the castle. I wasn't going to be able to talk to Anna, again. Panic attacks and nightmares had become commonplace, even more so than before. I was scared for this punishment to be over. Anna was going to be so disappointed in me. ' _I won't be able to talk to her, and I'm going to wake her up because I'll be having nightmares, and I'm going to get panic attacks, again. And she's going to ask me why I'm so thin, and I'm going to have to tell her I stopped eating. And then she's probably going to make me start eating again. What if I throw up? What if I can't eat at all anymore? She's going to hate me!"_ I thought, and started to cry. Anna was my best friend, and I didn't want to lose her because I wasn't very good at being a human. I started panicking whenever I thought of how Anna was going to react to me.

One morning, Gerda walked into the room with breakfast. I shook my head, like always, trying to show that I wasn't hungry. Normally she would just leave the plate out, and leave, but today she sat down next to me. "Zoey, I'm going to make sure you eat your breakfast. You are far too skinny. You were already really skinny, and now you are becoming unhealthy, and I'm getting worried. I thought yiiou might eat if I left the food with you, but clearly that didn't work. I'm going to stay until you eat something. It doesn't need to be much, but I'm not leaving until you eat at least a little."

My stomach didn't feel right, and I was afraid I might puke if I tried to eat anything, but I didn't want to burden Gerda by having her stay in the room until I ate. I looked at the food, then up at her, back at the food, then back at her. She seemed to nod at me, as if telling me it was ok to eat. I looked at the food again, and decided I was going to eat a little bit. Gerda knew I could do it, therefore, I should be able to. I moved my hands from my lap slowly started moving them towards the fork. Right as I was about to grab the fork, I changed my mind, and shook my head. ' _What are you doing? She is going to be so mad at you! She might even tell the KING! Do you want to be locked here for another month?'_ The last sentence continuously repeated itself in my brain. I didn't want to be trapped for another month, but I couldn't force myself to eat. I felt my body start to panic, and I curled up in a ball trying to be as small as possible.

Suddenly I was being lifted into the air, and placed on Gerda's lap, and she started stroking my hair. "It's going to be ok, hun. I will help you through this. I understand that you are scared, but we need to make sure you are staying healthy by eating. I'm doing this because I care for you, and I know you are hurting yourself by not eating, whether you know it or not." I started breathing normally, and was able to calm down. "Do you think you are ready to try again?" I nodded.

She led me over to the table, and I sat down again. I was really nervous, but I knew that Gerda wouldn't have me do anything bad. I grabbed the fork, slowly brought it over and scooped some eggs, and put it in my mouth. It was so good! I had completely forgotten how amazing Gerda was at cooking. My stomach was cramping, but I realized that it was because I was so hungry. Gerda was right. I had been hurting myself by not eating. She did want to help me! Gerda actually wanted to make sure I was ok! I jumped down and hugged her. This was the only way I knew I could thank her without talking.

"Good job, Zoey. I'm so proud of you! Now just eat the rest, and I'll leave you be. Your tutor should be here soon, so you won't be by yourself completely, and I will bring lunch when that is over. Okay?" I nodded, and continued eating. I was really enjoying it, but I could only eat a little bit of it, before I couldn't eat anymore. I knew she was a little suspicious, but she let it go.

As soon as she left, my tutor came in. He continued teaching me how to count, and skipping numbers by two's. I was continuing to have trouble understanding, which made me feel stupid, especially since I could hear him thinking how simple the math was, and that there was no reason I should be having trouble with this. It hurt. I wanted to be able to understand everything easily, but I was too stupid. I only understood English, and the little bit of history my parents had been talking about when I was younger. I was almost happy when he left, until I remembered I was alone.

Luckily, Gerda came a few minutes later with lunch, and I had someone with me. She stayed with me until I ate, and I frantically scrambled to grab her dress as she was leaving. She looked at me and I shook my head trying to ask her to stay. "Okay, Zoey, I'll stay for a little while, but I don't want you to get in trouble if the King catches us. Do you want to hear a story of when your sisters were younger?" I nodded my head. I knew Elsa and Anna were really close when they were little, but the accident scared Elsa, and the monarchs erased Anna's memory, but that was all I knew.

"Okay, when Elsa was about seven, and Anna was about four, Anna really wanted chocolate, but they had gotten in trouble for playing with their food at the dinner table. They waited for their parents to go to bed, and snuck downstairs to get some. They didn't realize how loud they were being, and about fifteen minutes later, I went down to find them. Your silly sisters were asleep on the ground, sitting on the wall next to each other, with chocolate all over their faces, dripping onto their dresses." I giggled. Little Elsa and Anna sounded awesome! I was a little jealous that they had each other for the younger part of their childhood, but I was mostly happy that Elsa and Anna had happy memories together. I realized something, and I wasn't happy anymore.

"Zoey, what's wrong?" Gerda asked, but I couldn't talk, so she grabbed her notebook and pen, and gave it to me. 'Elsa was hapy wen she was litle. I no shes not hapy, and she shud be. Y is the King so men to her?'

She sighed. "Sometimes people do what they think is best for their loved ones, and they aren't always right. The King thinks he's helping Elsa by having her stay in her room until she fixes her problem. No, it doesn't seem to be helping, but at least he's trying his best." _'But he's not. She's been in there for over a decade, and her powers are only getting stronger. Concealing them obviously doesn't work, she is just out of the way for him. He has given up on her, and keeping her there protects himself, his wife, and Anna. It's doing nothing for her.'_ I heard Gerda think. That made me even sadder for her. He had given up on her, just like my parents gave up on having a normal kid.

 _'Why did my parents hate me? What did I ever do to them?'_ I wrote down on the paper.

"I don't know your parents, and I don't really know what they did that made you to be so scared of everything, but I do know that they were wrong to treat you the way they did. You were only five years old when it happened, and that was wrong." I shook my head and held up four fingers. "Oh. You were so young. No four year old deserves to be treated like that." She hugged me. "I have to get going. But while I'm gone, I want you to think of this: Do you think that you, Elsa, or anyone deserves to be treated poorly by their parents, just because they have something that makes them different?" And then she left.

I thought about it for a while. I know Elsa didn't deserve to be treated like that. She was the Crown Princess, and the next Queen. Queen's do NOT deserve to be treated like that! And she was a nice person. Nice people never deserved to be treated wrong! People might hurt them, but they never deserved it. But, I wasn't going to be a Queen. I wasn't really a Princess. The King and Queen were not my parents, I just happened to be adopted by them. Plus, I didn't think I was nice. Probably just like everyone else. I was just little, so it hadn't shown up yet. Anna and Elsa were both really nice, and I wanted to be like that, but I didn't think I actually was. I did deserve what I got. I proabably deserved to be in this room, too, even if the reasoning wasn't fair. My parents had left me, because they hadn't liked me. I still wasn't sure what I did to make them hate me that much, especially since I tried so hard to be a good daughter, but they didn't like me _,_ and there was nothing I could do about it.

After a while, Gerda finally came in with dinner, and made me eat. I still only ate a little. _'I don't deserve it, anyways.'_ I couldn't help thinking.

"So, do you think you or Elsa deserve to be treated in such an unfair manner _?"_ I asked for a pen and paper, by pretending to write something on my hand with an invisible pen. I wrote 'Elsa is gona b the Quen somday, and she is rely nic, so no. I am not gong to be the Queen, and i'm probly not nice, so I defently desrv this.'

"Why do you think you are not nice?" She asked, so I wrote. 'Evryon I no but Elsa, Ana n u has ben men or not card bout me. Evn King and Queen and Mom and Dad. Cuz Im a bad kid.' She shook her head. "Sweetie, sometimes, you happen to be around people who treat you poorly or make you feel bad. That's not because of who you are, but it does show who they are. You have been put into situation after situation where the people who are supposed to be there for you aren't. You didn't pick who your parents were going to be. That was just unlucky on your part. They left you when you were four. Tell me what an innocent four year old would do to deserve that? Then you were put in the orphanage, which was hard enough by itself, but the person in charge did a terrible job keeping an eye on the children. I don't know the full story of what happened, but from what I do know, you were treated so cruelly, past the point where it was considered being bullied. Anna told me that they stabbed you with scissors the day before you were adopted, you had to do a ton of chores, they hurt you. That's not okay. Especially since you were the youngest by several years. I think the next youngest kids was ten or eleven. Not that it would've been okay if you were older, but you were still really young. Then you came here. Again, you didn't get your choice of who adopted you. You still aren't really being treated right, but it's a lot better than when you were younger. And you still have Elsa, Anna and I. The three of us would do anything to make sure you are okay. Does that help explain why you don't deserve these "punishments" you've been given?" I nodded my head, but I still felt that I deserved everything I got, and more. She still wasn't done. "You are one of the nicest people I have ever met, so if I didn't change your mind, I hope you will at least cross off the idea that you are mean."

She left soon after that, and I was so glad she was gone, even though I didn't like to be alone. I decided I would rather be alone than talk about my past.

For the remainder of my "punishment," Gerda still forced me to eat, and I only ate a little bit, but I refused to ask her questions that would bring up sad memories. I was getting a little better with the numbers my tutor was showing me, and I was able to write, and have him correct my spelling. I still wasn't good at it, but it was a lot of fun.

Finally, my punishment was over. The King actually sent Gerda, and I ran out the door, turned really quickly, and started running, when I realized I didn't know where I was. I didn't even know how I got there. I tried to retrace the steps back to that awful room, but ended up even more lost than before. I tried wondering around for a little while, but nothing looked familiar, and I found a corner, curled up and cried. I hadn't seen anyone except Gerda when she let me out. I knew that Anna didn't know where I was, otherwise she would've found me. She knew the castle way better than I did.

After crying for a small amount of time, I heard footsteps coming my way, and I tried to become as small as possible, but they stopped in front of me. When I finally gained the courage to look up, Gerda was there. "I finally found you. Why don't you come with me? I know how to get back to your real room." I nodded my head and followed her out.

We weren't walking for a very long time, when I realized that we were almost to my old bedroom. We finally arrived, and she dropped me off before going somewhere else. I was so relieved to be in an area where I would be allowed to go in and out whenever I wanted, and I would have Anna with me all the time.

When I walked in, I jumped on my bed and fell asleep immediately, hoping to forget all about this past month. Unfortunately, the nightmares continued, and this dream was all about how Anna hated me and wanted me to go back to the orphanage.

I woke up because someone was shaking me. I realized that it was Anna, and hugged her immediately, because I was scared of losing her, again. "Are you ok? It looked like you were having a bad dream."

"I-I-I-I'm s-s-s-s-s-" I tried to tell her, but my whisper-voice gave out. When I realized that I couldn't talk to Anna, again, after I had just started to be able to do so, I broke down and started crying. Anna picked me up and carried me over to her bed. When she sat down, and let me sit in her lap, she started talking.

"Hey, don't worry that you aren't able to talk now. You will be able to whisper soon. I will help you get there."

 _'_ _What happened to her? She was perfectly fine a month ago. Where has she been? I was looking for her all month. I know she would've done the same for me, unless something stopped her from moving around. Why does she look so... bad? Her entire body is too thin, and her hair looks like it's slowly falling out. Is she going to be ok!?'_

She was being so nice to me. Why did I think she was going to hate me for not doing things well.

"Hey, Zoey. Do you want to come with me and talk to our dad about what has been happing this past month? You can wait outside and try to read his mind!" Anna said. I agreed, only because I couldn't protest, and I didn't want to be by myself, yet again.

I trailed behind her as we walked to her dad's office. She pointed to a large plant and mouthed "stay here," so I hid behind it, so no one could see me.

I tried to listen to their conversation and the thoughts that went along with it, but they were all muffled because of the thick wall that was meant to keep sound out. I waited there for a long time, and wondered if she was ever going to come out.

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I hope you enjoyed that. Again, I'm sorry it took so long. I'm going to have the next chapter updated as soon as possible, but I'm a little busy with school and work, so it might not be for a little while. Thanks for reading!


	11. Chapter 11

I'm so sorry for such a long update. Again, school and work have been drowning me, but I'm sure you are all tired from my lame reasons. Anyways, here is the story. I tried to make it longer, because it's been awhile. I hope you enjoy!

Elsa Tomago: I PMed you the response to your review, but I want to thank you for reviewing every sing chapter I've written. You always have amazing, constructive advice, which is always appreciated.

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She finally came out of the office, but she looked really mad. I curled up and wondered if it was something I had done. She found me and we walked silently back to our room. I tried to read her thoughts, but she must have been really mad, because they were jumbled together, and I couldn't make any sense of them.

I finally understood when we got back to her room and she exploded, "He locked you in a room for the whole month! No wonder you aren't able to talk! This is too similar to what happened with your actual parents! The people who were supposed to love and care for you ignored you! You never did anything wrong, either! Your parents abandoned you for no reason, and you were just trying to give our sister a piece of cake for your birthday! He didn't even say if he checked up on you or not, so I'm guessing he didn't. It's just not fair, especially because he knew that you had issues in the past! And he doesn't need to protect me from you! You are one of the nicest people I have ever met! I'm not even sure why he thinks you're so dangerous. Your powers aren't going to hurt anyone. All you can do is hear what other people are saying. You don't share any of that information, and you are only six, and you were in the orphanage. It's not like you would tell anyone what you heard. You are too nice to do anything like that!" She finished her rant, and then noticed me hiding. "I'm not mad at you, just this situation. You are perfect, and I'm going to make sure that someday you will feel ok about yourself. You are not by yourself anymore."

I didn't know what to say to show my gratitude for her, but I decided that a hug would work until I could talk. She hugged me back, and said, "Zoey, I don't think we are going to be able to hire the psychologist for you again, but I will try and get you to talk whenever you are ready. I know you can do this." I was so happy that she still wanted me, even though I hadn't seen her in a month.

That I night, I decided that I wasn't hungry. Anna tried to get me to go to dinner, but I refused. I couldn't go downstairs to dinner at the table, even though I hadn't done that in a month. The main reason that I couldn't go downstairs was because the King was going to be there, and I was too scared of him to be able to eat.

I waited upstairs in Anna's room for her to come back. I found a piece of paper and some colored pencils and drew a picture of her, Elsa and me together. We were all smiling and holding hands and I wanted to show Anna that someday her sister would be able to see her again. On the back, I wrote, "Someday we will be together."

I heard footsteps, and stuck it under Anna's pillow just as the door flew open. "Um… my dad told me that if you don't come down tomorrow, you are going to be in big trouble." She sounded worried, which meant that he was really angry that I didn't eat with them. I didn't want to, but since it wasn't until tomorrow, I decided I wouldn't worry about it until then.

Anna and I played board games for the rest of the day, until she told me that it was getting late, and we needed to go to bed. She found the picture I left for her and pinned it on the wall, because she thought it was wonderful! She let me sleep with her, and when I woke up in the middle of the night because of a nightmare, she calmed me down until I was able to go to sleep.

The next day, we woke up, and had breakfast, even though I still didn't have an appetite. I didn't want to eat, and shook my head to tell her so. She decided that I would have to take two bites before I was allowed to leave the table. I wanted to leave, so I agreed to go along with it. Finally, she said that I was allowed to leave the table.

Then the tutor came in and told us that we were going to learn American Sign Language (ASL) together. Anna wanted me to learn this with her, because it would be a good way to communicate, even though I couldn't talk.

He showed us how to fingerspell, which meant using our hands that represented each letter of the alphabet. By signing more than one letter of the alphabet, we were able to fingerspell different words. First we practiced our own names, and then each other's names, and then he pointed to objects, like bed, wall, floor, paper, pen, etc. and had us fingerspell it. Anna was able to sign faster and better than me, which was a little frustrating, because it was only the first day, and I was already falling behind.

Afterwards, he worked with me on math and more reading. Anna was able to go eat, but when I was done it was going to be her turn. He had me count to one-hundred on paper, which was really hard after ten. I kept forgetting which number came next, and it was really obnoxious. Then we worked on spelling three letter words, which I was really good at. At the end of it, he told me that we were going to be working on harder words.

When it was Anna's turn, I stayed by her, even though she wanted me to go down to eat some more. I tried to understand the math she was doing, but it was really confusing. I kept seeing y, x, numbers, and =. I gave up and went to my half of the room. I started reading a book that I had found before I got into trouble. It was about a boy named Henry and his silly dog named Mudge. Henry had to train his dog if he wanted to keep him, but Mudge didn't like to listen. It was a really funny story, and Mudge was able to stay!

When her turn ended, Anna and I decided to practice fingerspelling, and for the first time, I was actually able to tell her things without stuttering. I was a little slower than her, and I stumbled a few times, but it was because I forgot what the letter was supposed to look like, not because I was scared.

We mostly practiced signing small words like bed, eat, and cup. We started signing slightly bigger words, but we didn't want to start sentences, because each letter had to be signed, and we weren't good at reading three letters, let alone multiple words.

After a while, my fingers were starting to become sore, and we decided to take a break, so we walked up to the library. She read me a book called, "Cinderella." I had never heard of it before, because my parents refused to read to me. (They believed that I would have to learn to read if I really wanted to know what the books said. Luckily, they taught me enough so I could start learning on my own.) I loved it, even though I was able to figure out the ending halfway through the book, but it was cool to have someone read a book to me. Especially because Anna changed her voice to match the people in the story.

After she finished, she told me that she wanted to read me another story, tomorrow, but it was time to go downstairs for dinner. I remembered how I was going to be forced to eat with Anna's family today, even though I was terrified of Adgar. Right before I made the decision to run away, I remembered that I was going to be in big trouble if I didn't show up. I followed Anna down the stairs, dragging my feet as much as I could. When she reached the bottom, I hid behind her, and hoped that the King and Queen couldn't see me.

After a while, my fingers were starting to become sore, and we decided to take a break, so we walked up to the library. She read me a book called, "Cinderella." I had never heard of it before, because my parents refused to read to me. (They believed that I would have to learn to read if I really wanted to know what the books said. Luckily, they taught me enough so I could start learning on my own.) I loved it, even though I was able to figure out the ending halfway through the book, but it was cool to have someone read a book to me. Especially because Anna changed her voice to match the people in the story.

After she finished, she told me that she wanted to read me another story, but it was time to go downstairs for dinner. I remembered how I was going to be forced to eat with Anna's family today, even though I was terrified of Adgar. Right before I made the decision to run away, I remembered that I was going to be in big trouble if I didn't show up. I followed Anna down the stairs, dragging my feet as much as I could. When she reached the bottom, I hid behind her, and hoped that the King and Queen couldn't see me.

They were sitting at the table, waiting for us to come over. When we did, I took the chair closest to the Queen and Anna. We ate in an awkward silence. I wasn't going to talk, and the King and Queen didn't want to. I just stared at my food, and pushed it back and forth with my fork. My stomach was growling, but I felt bad, like if I ate anything, I would puke it back up. I waited for Anna to finish eating, and then we excused ourselves.

"But, Zoey, you have hardly eaten anything. I've noticed that you've got really skinny since I last saw you." The Queen tried to reason with me, but all I could think about was how she never came up to visit me when I was trapped, so why should it matter to her? Instead, I shook my head, and, as soon as Anna finished eating, we went upstairs to our room. It felt more like her room, though.

"Hey, I wanted to talk to you about dinner. I didn't want to embarrass you, but Mom's right. You have gotten a lot skinnier, and you have barely eaten anything since the last time I saw you. Are you feeling ok?" She asked, and I nodded my head, hoping she would stop talking about it. She did, but I knew she was going to want to talk about it later.

She helped me change, and brush my teeth, so I would be ready for bed. Then she read me a book called, "Wizard of Oz." I didn't like this one as much, because it was about a girl who magically traveled in another world, accidently killed a witch, and went on a mission to kill another. I felt that she should have been in a lot of trouble, and at least given the witches another chance to make-up for terrorizing the people. They were probably just misunderstood, just like me.

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So, Zoey's free again! And she has Anna and Gerda to help her, which will definetly be good for her! I'm going to try and update soon, but I can't make any promises. Thanks for reading!


	12. Author's note

Hello to all my lovely readers!

I just wanted to let you know that I am in the proccess of revising this story. I was reading through it, and I realized I couldn't continue writing without changing it a little. I will finish this story, it will just take some time. I am sorry my updates are so spread out, but I will work on it in the future.

Thanks for staying amazing!

~raven678


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